Heritage hubs to promote tourism on cards

NEW DELHI: Tourism Minister Jagmohan said Monday the government would create heritage hubs in different parts of the country to boost the sagging domestic tourism industry.

"We plan to create new heritage hubs in every state to take heritage tourism forward and enhance the appeal of tourist destinations," he said.

"The government departments, state bodies, private industry as well as non-governmental organisations have to support our plans. Only then we can expect more investment in tourism as a whole," Jagmohan told a business summit here.

The three-day India Economic Summit 2002, which started here Sunday, is being organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The minister said the government has identified 36 new heritage hubs across India to synthesise the element of tourism and culture.

"India is one of the most ancient civilisations of the world. It has vast bounties of nature, majestic mountains, lovely beaches, wonderful wildlife and enchanting bird sanctuaries and also great treasures of art and philosophic thought.

"We need to harness this beauty and preserve it for our tourists. The idea is to restore our monuments and create eco-friendly tourism spots. We will also create new tourism circuits," he said.

Jagmohan said total allocation for tourism has increased from 5.25 billion to 29 billion in the 10th Five Year Plan that started in the April this year.
Source: IANS